It’s not the first time CtW has been involved in a spat over Tesla’s board of directors. Ahead of the company’s annual shareholders meeting in May, CtW said CEO Elon Musk’s brother Kimball Musk — as well as Antonio Gracias and James Murdoch — should be booted from the Board. In the end, however, their push fell short and all three were reelected.

This time, however, elected officials have joined CtW’s call. New York State and New York City comptrollers and treasurers of Connecticut and Oregon have also cosigned the letter.

“Given the lack of responsiveness to fundamental governance concerns, we believe that shareholders need new stewards on the board,” the letter, addressed to directors Robyn Denholm, Linda Rica, and Murdoch, reads

The firm says it’s concerned about the lack of a timeline for director departures, and wants to see the board draw from a diverse set of candidates, rather than the high number of insiders that currently sit on the board.

“While meeting the technical definition of independence, five of eight current non‐executive directors have professional or personal ties to Mr. Musk that, in light of recent events, appear to have put at risk their ability to exercise independent judgment,” the letter reads.

“Given that shareholders have been calling for improvements to the board’s structure with little effect,” CtW says, “more concrete steps are needed to demonstrate to shareholders that the company is taking these concerns seriously.”

MOST COMMENTED

Google is requiring EU election ad buyers to verify themselves.Image: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty ImagesBy Johnny Lieu2018-11-23 02:13:12 UTC Now that we're very aware of how foreign interference can affect elections, Google is rolling out transparency rules for the upcoming European Union parliamentary vote. Google announced it will be requiring political ad buyers to verify themselves, the…